Leakiness of gastric superficial and foveolar cells. A quantitative electron microscopic study using tannic acid

Two adjacent antral biopsies were taken endoscopically from 41 patients attending a clinic for the investigation of upper gastrointestinal tract symptoms. One was processed for histopathological grading and assessment of the Helicobacter pylori by light microscopy. The other was fixed in tannic acid, which demonstrates cell leakiness, and processed for electron microscopy. On each grid, the light (electron lucent) and dark (electron dense-leaky) gastric superficial and foveolar cells away from mechanical trauma of biopsy were counted, along with the number of H. pylori which were in contact with the epithelial cells. There was a significant relationship between histological grade of gastritis and the extent of electron microscopic damage, i.e., the degradation of normal to leaky cells and the number of H. pylori per leaky cell. If the patients were divided into two groups with minimal and maximal gastritis and compared against each other, then there was a significant difference between the two groups with respect to surface cell damage, polymorphs per unit area, the number of glands invaded by polymorphs, light/dark cells, Helicobacter grades assessed light microscopically or totals counted in contact with epithelial cells by electron microscopy, the number of Helicobacter per cell, and the age of the patients. There was no difference between the two groups on their endoscopic appearances or treatment with H2 blockers or NSAIDS.